


Wayfinder

by startracings



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startracings/pseuds/startracings
Summary: Sora shares the age-old tradition of wayfinders with Rapunzel. She makes sure to have one to guide herself home.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Wayfinder

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday drabble for my friend callowGuru! Happy Birthday!

“It’s called a wayfinder,” Sora said, showing off his small charm with pride. The star-shaped lattice of shells was absolutely  _ adorable _ . Rapunzel’s eyes fairly glittered as she looked at it, a smile growing across her face.

“I’ve seen shells like these before! Mother would bring them to me. They make the most beautiful paints.” She stopped just shy of taking the charm from his hands; her enthusiasm about the little charm was only held back by the way Sora seemed to handle it with such care. She shifted her gaze excitedly from it to him and back again. “Why is it called a wayfinder?”

“Well…” Sora tilted his head, eyes narrowed for a moment. He seemed to mull it over before recollection hit him - “Back at home, they used to give these to sailors as good luck charms. Carrying one meant you could always find your way back home.”

Rapunzel bounced with further excitement. “You were a  _ sailor _ ?”

“Well, not exactly.” He ran his free hand through his hair, letting the charm rest on his lap for a moment as he considered how to navigate this part of the conversation. He could already hear Donald’s repeated warning about  _ world order _ . “I grew up on a bunch of islands, so we would use a rowboat between them. My friend actually made this for me - we were going to, uh…” He scratched his chin for a second with a bashful smile. “We were going to try to sail to a new…. Island on a raft. She made this for me as a good luck charm.”

“Is that why it has your face on it then?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Rapunzel giggled and sat back as Sora put the charm away. “That’s really sweet, Sora. I’m sure she’s glad you’ve held onto it for all this time!” A mockingly stern look crossed her face. “You make sure you bring it back and show her that you’ve kept it safe next time you’re home.”

Sora chuckled and stood up, holding a hand out to her. “You sounded just like her then. But don’t worry, I will.”

After her return to her rightful place as Princess, Rapunzel couldn’t shake the idea of Sora’s good luck charm from her mind. It just stuck with her as such an endearing idea - and with her life in a bit of a whirlwind, having something that was supposed to bring her home felt… comforting. She had only just found her real home - she didn’t want to lose it  _ ever _ again.

It took some explaining to the guards about what shells she needed. She had never learned their names, only what they looked like and that Mother Gothel had gone to some shore that was some day and a half away from the tower. She asked for five of them, and the guards that were sent came back with several different shells, all in groups of five or more. It was truly endearing - and they were all so lovely. It took some sorting but they did grab the ones she needed. With a smile and some thanks, she took the shells and set to work.

Flynn didn’t quite understand what she was doing, but hey, she seemed to be enjoying it. She didn’t really know what she was doing either. It took some experimentation on the spare shells to figure out how to get a hole in one that she could run ribbon through - and she had to get ribbon! And paint! Or was it important that she had to use specifically rope like Sora’s was? Or did it stop working if someone made it but didn’t live by the ocean?

“Hey, Rapunzel. Stop for a second,” Flynn finally said as she started rattling off these very same questions aloud to him. “Did you see that kid? He wouldn’t have worried if the sky fell on his head. Do you think he’d have cared about what type of string you use to hold together your little…. Whatever it is?” He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling as best he could. “If I know anything about good luck charms, it’s more about the weight you give it, not what goes into making it. Follow your heart.”

“Follow my heart, huh…?” Rapunzel mulled the words over, then seemed to reach her own conclusion. “Right! I think I know what I’m going to do.”

“‘Atta girl.”

She set back to her project with new-found glee. Five thalassa shells were soon painted the same rich purple so emblematic of her kingdom. She made small holes in the shells and strung them ever-so-carefully with gold ribbon. The two together echoed that familiar shape of the sun, albeit with fewer points. To top it off, she strung it up on more golden ribbon and hung it by her window.

“Now I’ll always know where home is!”

It was some time later, when she was preparing for bed, that she heard a faint sound like shattering glass. Upon looking in her room, no windows were broken, no glasses shattered- but lying on the sill was the broken remnants of her little wayfinder. The sight of the broken shells filled her with a sense of certain dread. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she knew:

Something  _ bad _ had happened to Sora.

Her heart ached at the sight of the fractured charm. It ached for the simple despair of a project being broken. It ached with the certainty that her friend had faced some tragedy. She could not put the ache into words, but it was there nonetheless. She stared at the pieces for a long while. Her eyes welled up with tears unspilled, but the ache eventually passed.

She gathered the pieces up in silence, placing them with care back upon her desk. Come the morning, she set about putting them back together as best she could. It wasn’t perfect - it took some sanding down, some painting over, and there were a few pieces too small to re-attach - but eventually she had a relatively complete wayfinder again. She felt right putting it back together. Some piece of her heart stilled its worried spiral as she strung the charm up once more.

A few months later, none other than Donald and Goofy returned to Corona, this time with their King Mickey at the helm. When she asked where Sora was, they told her the truth. He was missing, and they were searching everywhere for where he may have disappeared to.

“Well, I haven’t seen him. But I can certainly have the guards look for him on their travels. And Flynn too, he knows a  _ lot _ of people.” She smiled almost instinctively upon seeing the two familiar faces begin to fall. “We’ll find him somewhere, I’m sure of it. In fact… wait just a moment.”

After a quick return to her room, she handed over the repaired wayfinder. “Keep this with you. So he’ll know how to find you. It’s supposed to bring people home, right?”

Their King took the charm with a smile and a laugh. “You’re absolutely right! I’m sure he’ll know just where to go if he’s lost. Thank you!”

Somewhere, as she dreamed, another Princess smiled. Somewhere, as he drifted, a star twinkled even brighter. Such earnest wishes would always be heard by strong hearts - and they had power all their own. Rapunzel wished with all her heart for her friend to find his way back. And somewhere, in some distant plane, it would make all the difference.


End file.
